Interview with writer Vishnu

Writer Vishnu, also known as Vishnu’s Virtues, joins me today to talk about his new non-fiction book, Does True Love Exist? 15 Simple Ideas for Finding Your Life Partner.

Bio:

Vishnu is a writer, author, and blogger behind the popular personal development blog Vishnu's Virtues. He is the author of 10 Sacred Laws of Healing a Broken Heart and Is God Listening? 

In addition to writing, Vishnu is a life coach who coaches individuals who are at rock bottom - helping them comeback to find their purpose and live their best lives. Prior to writing and coaching, Vishnu was a criminal defense and immigration lawyer.

Vishnu's writings have been featured on the Huffington Post, Mind Body Green and the Tiny Buddha blog.

Welcome, Vishnu. Please tell us about your current release.

My current book answers the question if true love exists and how to find your life partner. It’s a question that I started asking after a long-term relationship ended and I began my search for my own life partner. I figured I’d write about what worked and what didn’t work to guide others on their own journey.

What inspired you to write this book?

Having been raised in an eastern culture, I come at this from a different take. My first marriage was someone from the Indian community and we had many many things in common. I had grown up with the thinking that I would be with someone from my own culture and this person would be introduced to me by my family. Once this type of arrangement failed, I found myself in the deep waters of dating and meeting people for the first time in my life.

I started reading some books and articles, magazines and movies only to realize each had their own agenda. All the pop culture was focused on selling people stuff including weddings, diamond rings, houses and cars.

Also, in the world on Instagram, Facebook, reality television and the Bachelorette, people have totally forgotten what’s important and what matters when it comes to relationships. All this stuff seemed pretty basic to me but it looked so weird in popular culture and writing. I wanted to give my own perspective on this topic from my own experiences and observations.

What exciting story are you working on next?

If you write a book on dating, you have to finish with a book on happily ever after. I’m working on applying all the principles I wrote about in my book to find Ms. Right. Both in my life and in my writing, I hope my next book will be about finding love but much more importantly, finding the right kind of love in my life. I talk about how important it is to declutter your life of people who don’t belong in it and people who are incompatible for you in my current book. Only when you clear of your life of the people who don’t belong there, can you open your life and welcome in true love.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I first considered myself a writer when I started blogging. Blogging at my blog www.vishnusvirtues.com gave me the confidence to write and keep on writing. I actually enjoy writing in a blog community. I’ve met so many writers and people around the world through my writing. Although writing is solitary, blogging is more community-oriented.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I hope to write full time one day. Today, I work in the social justice movement as a community organizer. In this job too, I can use my writing and ability to community to advance human rights and push back against injustices. I’ve seen how powerful writing and speaking your ideas can be.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

For me, publishing is most important. So, I may publish more quickly than other people and do less editing. I am more interested in getting something out in the world than working on something forever, perfecting it, but never releasing it. Hitting the publish button quicker than most is my writing quirk. I don’t aim at perfection. Instead, I focus on continued publication.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Hmmm, I wanted to be a teacher and mentioned that to my Indian parents. Their response was typical and hilarious. Oh, a lawyer then! Lawyers do a lot of writing. Their hearts were likely in the right place but the effects on my life were disastrous. I went to law school, practiced law and found out how much I didn’t like the practice of law. Luckily, I found similar work in the nonprofit world where I can use similar skills to help people.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I’d encourage all the writers out there to keep writing. The world needs to hear our stories and our voices. Don’t just say that you want to write a book some day later in your life because that day will never come. With all the tools available in the modern world, we can publish our writing almost instantly and make an impact on the people who read our work. Even if you don’t write a book, you can always write a blog post! And several blog posts can be the foundation for your first book.

Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon

Thank you for being here today, Vishnu.